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Reviews For: TENNADYNE TD-90

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : TENNADYNE TD-90
	Reviews: 5	MSRP: $250
	Description: A BROADBAND TERMINATED FOLDED DIPOLE 90 FEET LONG RATED FOR 500 WATTS PEP FROM 1.8-30 MHZ.
	Product is in production
More Info: http://www.tennadyne.com/td_line.htm
# last 180 days	Avg. Rating last 180 days	Total reviews	Avg. overall rating
0	0	5	4.4

AB7KT	Rating:	2016-08-29
Fair			Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought this antenna because I wanted to quit using an antenna tuner. And kind of related, I wanted to try ALE and needed a frequency agile antenna. I bought the higher power version of this antenna and paid what I think is a LOT of money for a wire antenna (almost $500). I can not use this antenna any higher in frequency than 30 meters without a tuner. The SWR is way too high and my transceiver and amp fault. As an added bonus, the on the air performance is mediocre at best. I find that I consistently have to run way more power to work the same stations. FWIW: I have QRP DXCC all on a wire antenna. Now, on weak signal modes like JT65 it is not unheard of for me to be running 100 watts or more and still don't get great signal reports. My antenna is in the clear and the ends are about 60 feet high. The middle is unsupported, so the center of the antenna sags down to about 40 feet. I am feeding it with 100' of RG213 coax that was brand new this year. I definitely would NOT buy this again, let alone at the price I paid for this antenna. My last antenna and the main antenna I have used since 1979 was a simple 130' flat top fed with ladder line through a tuner. I would say that antenna outperformed the Tennadyne hands down with the exception of being able to use the Tennadyne on 160, 80, 40, and 30 without a tuner. But since I have to use a tuner anyway for anything above 30 meters...........the Tennadyne doesn't have much to offer. I am going to try something else ASAP. FWIW: I just called CQ on PSK31 on a fairly active 40 meter band. As no one answered me, I kept running more power with ever CQ. When I didn't get a single reply running 450 watts on PSK I gave up. There is nothing new with the antenna or damaged/broken with the antenna. It is in pristine condition and shows no readings different from when new. I have a Flex radio and can run a scan on the antenna: It shows the same readings as when new.

KD8PGB	Rating:	2016-05-05
AWESOME			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is a well constructed performs as advertised product. While you will most likely wait up to a month for delivery as the western Michigan antenna gnomes build these to order, it is well worth the price and the wait. I have mine in an inverted "V" configuration with the apex at 25ft and the legs are at roughly 9ft. I paid close attention to getting the legs set to 22 degrees for optimum performance. I have had this antenna up for 18 months, through a Michigan winter with ice and snow, and it is holding up nicely. No visible signs of degradation due to weather or UV exposure. I was running a Winlink Station and scanning several frequencies which this antenna is perfect for, no tuner required, under 1.5 SWR on 20-80m and outstanding sensitive but quiet reception as well as excellent signal reports on the transmission side of things. I like mine so much I purchased a second one as a backup!

KQ1Y	Rating:	2012-07-14
Great for Emcomm			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I used it for the first time a month ago during a regional MARS exercise - easy to install (on a 30' surplus mast in an inverted V configuration). Amazing tuning across the bands which in our frequency-agile (2-20MHz) environment was a tremendous help. Starting running with the tuner but ended up taking tuner out of the circuit as was not needed and was causing more problems. Since purchased my own - so far performance is up there, though won't beat a permanent 600' horizontal loop antenna, for what it is good at - its really good. I have a 160ft Cobra and would say its antenna performance is marginally better, operationally much better as it tunes up everywhere. The Cobra won't get on 160m or 3MHz frequencies very well. A highlight for me - during the exercise at night when we had some downtime, managed to work New Zealand on 17m - not bad for 100W portable operation.

W4LTX	Rating:	2009-07-07
Better than B & W			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I replaced a B & W broadband dipole with the TD-90 a little over a week ago. It is better than the B & W on all frequencies but did not make the low SWR specifications called for. In all fairness I do not have the option of installing the antenna by itself clear of all buildings and other antennas. A brief comparison: 160 meters; SWR 1.7:1 where the B & W did not work at all. 3.5 - 5.5 MHz (including MARS and CAP frequencies); SWR equal or below 1.3:1; B & W 1.5:1 40 & 30 meters; SWR 3:1; B & W 4:1 20 - 12 meters; SWR 1.5:1 or better; B & W also 1.5:1 or better. 10 meters; varied from 3:1 on the low end to 1.3:1 on the high end of this band. The B & W was not checked on this band. Performance was equal to Alpha Delta DX-CC on 80 and 40 meters but the TD-90 was quieter on receive. On 20, 15, and 10 the DX-CC was 1-2 S units better. The TD-90 intersects the DX-CC antenna. Center is 30 feet high and the ends about 12 feet high. Construction seems better than the B & W. I feed the antenna via an autotuner. 73's, Pudge, W4LTX

W5BIV	Rating:	2009-04-27
Outstanding antenna			Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have been using the TENNADYNE® TD-90 terminated folded dipole for four months. It is a broadband antenna designed for fixed station, multi-frequency applications. This type of antenna is widely used by military, marine, commercial and broadcasting services. The antenna can be mounted horizontally between two support masts or structures, or as an inverted ‘V’ using a single central support mast, which is the configuration that I am using. I have been very impressed with the construction of the TD-90. The antenna is made with extremely durable stranded copper clad steel and is pretuned so that no measuring or cutting is necessary. The components are also heavy duty construction. To date, it has easily withstood 65 mph winds. I found it very easy to install and the performance has exceeded my expectations. The benefits of operating with a broadband antenna are numerous, particularly if you operate in a remote controlled configuration. Although the antenna is rated from 1.8 to 30 MHz, I found that it also loads well on 6 meters. My initial concern with this antenna design was the anticipated loss of power in the terminating resistor, but that concern has been unfounded. The TD-90 is rated for 500 watts PEP and I routinely operate at that power level with little apparent heating of the terminating resistor. I performed many on-air comparisons with the TD-90, resonant half wave inverted ”V”s, and a GAP Challenger vertical. Most stations could not detect any difference between the TD-90 and the resonant dipoles. The comparison with the vertical varied with the propagation angle, as would be expected. Another advantage of the TD-90 is the very low noise level. As I operate phone and digital modes, the broad band characteristics of the TD-90 has been a joy to experience. Mine is mounted with the apex at 30 feet and the ends at 12 feet. There is a coax run of 60 feet to a remote coax switch, 30 feet to a grounded PolyPhaser lightning arrestor, and 15 feet to the rig. I measured the VSWR on all bands with an RF Applications P-1500 digital RF power and SWR indicator. Findings were as follows: 1.8 to 2.0 MHz 1.1:1 3.5 to 4.0 MHz 1.1:1 60 meters 1.1:1 7.0 to 7.3 MHz 1.4:1 10.1 to 10.15 MHz 1.1:1 14.0 to 14.35 MHz 1.1:1 18.07 to 18.16 MHz 1.5:1 21.0 to 21.45 MHz 1.3:1 24.9 to 24.99 MHz 1.1:1 28.1 MHz 1.8:1 29.7 MHz 1.3:1 50.1 MHz 1.4:1 53.9 MHz 1.2:1 The SWR readings on my Icom 756PROIII agreed with the readings on the P-1500. I highly recommend this antenna to anyone needing a dependable, broad band antenna. Steve Pierce, W5BIV

Category:

Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

Product:

TENNADYNE TD-90

Summary:

Rating:	Time Owned:
Great! Good OK Needs Help Poor Awful!	0 - 3 Months 3 - 6 Months 6 - 12 Months More than 12 Months

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